Dreaming Reality
by BedlamReject
Summary: Do you have dreams you're living in a world controlled by sentient beings? Do you get followed by men in black suits? Do you think your crazy? You are. So is Scout. But she's about to find out if that's actually the case...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The Matrix and its canon characters belong to Andy and Larry Wachowski, Village Roadhouse, and WB pictures. Scout belongs to me.**

- - - - -**  
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"Tell me about this dream, Scout. In as much detail as you can," said the man sitting in the plush leather chair beside the young woman. Laying the hand against her eyes, she nodded, if a bit resentful for being asked for the thousandth time. She shifted from the ottoman she was laying on in the leather and cherry wood covered office.

"I'm standing in a pile of…what looks like junk metal. The sky's black."

"Let me stop you there. What do you mean, black? Overcast? Night, perhaps?"

"No. It's black, Doc. Just…black. Like, huge pitch black sheets of clouds covering any chance of sunlight. The only way I can see was through the little light that came off these…faint orbs. Kind of looked like LED lights, y'know? But no covering. Like really bright fireflies."

Scribbling something onto the notepad the therapist held in his grasp, murmuring an odd 'hm', or 'go on'. Noticing she had stopped, he looked down at her. "Continue."

Having been analyzing the images in her head, Scout stirred at the sound of her therapist's voice. "Oh…sorry. I was just...thinking about it. It comes and goes, like it's locked in my head somehow. Sounds weird, I know. But it's almost like something doesn't want me to remember. And what's even more odd is that when I dream, it feels more real than when I'm awake." Another pause. "I must sound like a nut case. But I suppose that's why I'm here."

"Nonsense, Scout. There is no such thing as a nut case. Just people who lose their way. That is why you're here. Now. When you're ready, continue." The man looked down at the young woman lying on the couch tapping his pen absently on his notepad.

After gaining her bearings once more, she clasped her hands and laid them on her stomach. "I start walk toward the lights. Walking...walking...I start wading through the shin high metal waste around me, and..." She stopped, closing her eyes to remember.

"It's okay. Take your time."

Opening her mouth to speak again, Scout furrowed her brow at the slight twinge of pain she felt in her forehead. She reached up and rubbed at it slightly. "Sorry. I think I'm getting a bit of a headache."

"Have you been taking your pills?" He asked, almost condiscendingly.

"Of course I have," the young woman retorted, hiding the fact that she was lying. She hated the idea of pills controlling her.

Having not detected her lie, the psychiatrist nodded absently. "Alright. Well, it looks like our time is up for today. Gather up your thoughts for our next session, and we'll talk then."

Getting up from the couch, she grabbed her messenger bag and saluted lazily toward her shrink before heading out of the office.

- - - - -

Walking down the bustling sidewalk down Yonge Street, during rush hour in down town Toronto, Scout kept very much to herself, hiding her face inside the wooly interior of her coat. This winter had been particularily unforgiving. This much was evident to everyone.

Watching the small puffs of vapour seeping from the scarf around her chin, her eye was drawn to a situation going on at the crosswalk she was walking toward. There was an accident, alright. Two cars had carreened into one another at the intersection. 'Damn ice,' thought Scout, venturing forward.

Over the crowd, Scout could spot a man being pulled from his crumpled car, blood running down his cheek. What confused her was that it wasn't a paramedic pulling the injured driver out, it was a man in a suit. And sunglasses. 'In the winter, buddy? Do you really need those shades?' Scout found herself saying in her mind. Once over that, she watched one of the 3 men there in suits look in her direction, a monotonous expression on his face. She couldn't see his eyes, but she felt them. On her.

Scout felt a chill go down her spine that couldn't be blamed on the icy breeze that swept the city streets, and she shivered. Feeling it was best she left, she walked from the place she stood, deciding to take an alternate route home. Sure, it wasn't on the main roads, but she had taken the alleys before. Nothing had happened.

As she walked home, the image of the man who had locked his gaze on her stayed in her mind. There was something eerie about him. Something she couldn't place her finger on. The men in the suits just didn't sit well with her.

Putting her earphones over her reddened ears again, the young woman reached in her pocket and turned up her mp3 player, bobbing her head to the progressive rock beat. Scout felt slightly more relaxed as she walked through the second last alleyway.

Of course, when one is most calm and out of one's element, the worst damage can happen. It was then, in the distance, that Scout was met with the same glacial, almost mechanical scowl as she had seen moments before. Stopping dead in her tracks, Scout watched the man absently, before lowering her gaze to the ground again, going to walk by him.

The man cleared his throat as the woman approached, stepping in her path. "Excuse me, miss. Could you point me in the direction of the Horseshoe Tavern?" He seemed to reach up to his ear slightly.

"I uhm...I actually need to get home...Sorry," she said, moving past him. Surprised that he let her by, she turned half way once she was a couple steps away, to see the man looking to her over his shoulder. She turned around and continued walking down the alleyway, slightly faster. 'Never taking this route again. Never ever ever.'

- - - - -

"She's one of the few potential's we've seen in this country. We'll have to keep an eye on her. Put her amongst the top of the list." The agent lowered his hand from his earpiece, watching the woman walk faster down the alleyway. Two agents walked up from behind him and, without so much as a glance, Smith muttered, "Follow her."

Without an audible acknowledgement, the two agents split off into two directions, in order to gain stealthy vantage points for surveillance.

Smith breathed a short, mirthless chuckle. "Nothing is a challenge anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

She was walking again. Walking in the same place. Yet, this time, it was different. This time, she wasn't knee high in junk metal. This time, she was walking, barefoot, amongst debris, both human and machine alike. As if just noticing this, Scout gasped and brought her foot up off what looked to be a human skull, and fell backward. At this point, everything seemed to be going in slow motion. The still air around her whispered taunting words as she landed on her backside.

Sitting up and rubbing the small of her back, Scout noticed she was naked. She gasped in surprised and reached up quickly to cover her lissome frame. Her eyes darted back and forth, before she was certain there was no others behind her. Feeling slightly more at ease, she stood, and for the first time, she looked full on ahead of her.

What she saw took her breath away more than seeing a skull ever could.

There, in the vast lifeless plain in front of her, Scout gazed upon something she didn't quite comprehend. In the distance stood countless numbers of grey pillars, all adorned with thousands upon thousands of red, glowing pods. Curiousity got the better of her for the first time in too long, and she ventured forward.

Reaching one of the closer pillars, the young woman climbed the ladder-like rungs until she reached the closest caccoon-like pod. Then, sitting against the step jutting out of the pillar, she looked down through the translucent red skin.

Another gasp escaped her lips as she peered in onto the small child the pod contained. iNo.../i Scout reached out and laid her hand against the warm womb-like caccoon. She felt a tear fall down her cheek as she watched the still girl inside, and the wires that came from her head, torso, and back.

Suddenly, instinct kicked in, and she knew she needed to get the girl out of there, as if she had some connection with her. She began beating on the outside, trying to find a hole of some sort. Becoming frustrated and frantic, Scout yelled for help. What met her instead, were horrifying red eyes. So many eyes...

After that, everything felt as if it was in slow motion. Her body was being carried through the air, and suddenly, a long drop into a similar pod. Thrashing and calling out for help the entire time, Scout fought to escape her sealed gelatinous cell.

And finally, she woke up.

Scout jolted from her pillow, panting as a thin layer of perspiration glistened in the moonlight that spilled in from the window. Gasping for breath for a few moments, Scout reached out and grabbed the bedknob closest to her, using it to get up.

Walking into her bathroom, she splashed her face with cold water from the tap that she had turned on. iThis is nuts, /i she thought, hands flat against the surface of the counter on either side of the sink. Drying her face with the towel next to the sink, Scout took a long look at her tired visage in the has to stop./i

- - - - -

"Captain -- sentinels, trailing us," called the operator from his seat in from of the glowing green monitors.

"E.T.A.?"

"2 minutes, give or take."

"Shit." Grabbing the mic, she yelled into it, "ANYONE WHO CAN HEAR MY VOICE NEEDS TO TAKE A TURRET." The female jogged past the operator and plopped into the pilot's seat, turning to face the controls.

"Evasion, Cy?" The man called again, as three groggy looking crew members headed to the available guns.

"Not on your life, Ray." With a slight smile, she turned back to the console, gripping the flightcontrols coming up from the floor. "Okay, Hold onto something. If we're going to face them, we'll face them head on." With that, Cy brought the ship around in a backflip, before flipping them back upside.

"Lord almightly, Cap'n. Tryin' to kill us?" The Aussie behind the screen shouted. once finding his bearings was possible.

She grinned to herself and started on toward where the machines were advancing.

"Here they come," said the man at the second turret, hands slightly sweaty on the handles controlling the gun. He had only been there a few months, as was visible from his lack of hair and hesitant disposition.

"Settle down, Sparky," replied Jasper, the wise ass that stood in the station next to him, eyes glued on the holographic projections in front of her, seeing the slight glint of red light. "Don't piss your pants again."

Ignoring the ever sarcastic, ever boistrous co-pilot, Sparky continued to stay as alert as a man with 3 hours of sleep could.

The engineer, who manned the last turrest squinted at his screen. "I swear I just saw one. I don't see -- AH GOD," he yelled, as one of the metal beasts, from seemingly nowhere, thrusted a steely tenticle through the metal outer wall near the turret he was in. Nearly falling back, he took hold again and aimed at the machine, trying to gain access to the inside, and with a few shots that nearly took off some of the ship's panelling, the machine fell from the side of the vessel.

"That was entirely too close..." he said, trailing off.

"One down, nine to go, Sparky," Jasper replied, shooting one that was coming for her gun. "Make that two. Hah. Little bastard."

"Another one coming up to your right, Jas," Ray called.

"Got 'em. Woo hoo! You owe me a drink it I get more than five, Cap'n." Jasper grinned to herself and mercilessly shot down more than her share of the over-sized piles of hardware, stopping only once to reload.

"Holy shit, Jasper," Sparky commented, once the fight was over. "Remind me never to get you angry."

Grinning in triumph, the weapon maintenance guru cracked her knuckles. "Looks like you owe me that drink, Cy."


	3. Chapter 3

Scout hadn't gotten any sleep since the moment she woke up in the middle of the night. The images she saw were embedded in the forefront of her mind. The feelings she used to get about dreaming seeming more real was now the only thing she knew; the only thing she felt.

It was terrifying, and liberating. Slipping into the shower, the woman stepped under the stream of water, letting it beat down on her back. Her palm against to tile wall beside her, Scout squinted her eyes closed, tears mixing with the cleansing water washing over her.

She didn't understand why she cried, until she saw the image of the girl trapped inside the red pod. Empathy enguled her, and with that, sadness did as well.

Pounding the tile with her other hand, Scout sniffled, leaning her head on the wall. iIt's not fair.../i She wasn't sure why she had said it, but it felt right.

Tears dissipating, she stepped out of the bathroom and into her room, changing into her work attire.

Before she knew it, she was on the bus on her way to the outskirts of the Mega City, to the Smith where she was doing her apprenticeship.

Shedding her sweater once she walked in the front, Scout tied a heavy apron behind her back, over her tank top. She walked toward her station, filling a basin with water from the tap nearby.

"Nice of you to show y'face," said someone from behind her. Scout smiled quietly. She knew that voice.

"Glad to hear someone missed me. Geez, one sick day and it's like I'm on my death bed." She turned toward the source of the voice, head cocked to the side as she flipped up her metal visor.

Garret grinned lop-sidedly, wiping at his moist brow. "You feeling okay now?"

"I was always okay." She smirked slightly, despite the doubt that penetrated her.

"Debatable."

Scout walked toward him, slapping his abdomin lightly in passing. In response, Garret pulled her toward him, chuckling absently as he leaned down to kiss her.

Melting would start to describe Scout's feelings. Garret was probably the only constant in her life that allowed her to hold onto the inch of sanity she still possessed.

"Mmf." Scout tried, chuckling before she pulled back. "Whew, someone missed me as much as I missed them." She grinned.

Offering her a lop-sided grin, Garret shook his head. "Just a little."

"Oooookay. That's quite enough snogging, you two. Get to work," said a bellowing voice from behind them.

"Sorry, boss." Scout's cheeks flush slightly and as Garret scurried towards his station, she reached down and pinched his behind, emitting a malicious chuckle.

After hours of sweltering heat, molding molten metal with heavy hammers, and torturously sore muscles, Scout found herself shedding her heavy apron, and wiping a layer of sweat from where her visor had rested.

Hanging her apron up, Garret laid his hands on her sides, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Are we having dinner tonight?"

Smiling a little, Scout leaned her head back onto his, letting out a content sigh. "Yes. Coming back to my place?"

"Mmm, okay. I'll cook, though."

"Deal."

- - - - -

Resting the back of her head in her hands as she leaned back into the pilot's seat, Cy stirred in a half-conscious state, before the jarring of the seat beside her made her wake fully.

"We're getting signals from inside the Matrix. They're really odd. Almost...like the fabric of the program tears at certain points," Ray said.

Cy narrowed her eyes. "Do you think..." She said, trailing off.

"It might be. A few people in Zion were clairvoyant and open enough to have dreams of that nature."

"But it hasn't happened in at least 20 years. And since it hadn't, everyone had figured the glitch was fixed."

"I know. But the council has arranged to meet with the few crews available. Including us."

Nodding, the woman touched a few controls on the console in front of her.

"We'll be there within the hour."

Ray reached over and cupped one of her shoulders. "Yeh look tired."

Cy reached up and squeezed his hand absently, eyes still gazing out the viewport in the front of her. "Would you stay here so I can take a nap?"

The operator nodded, and as Cy stood, he did as well, and kissed her forehead on his way to take her seat.

With a content smile, Cy walked from the cockpit to her quarters. Mindlessly passing some of her crew members, many a thought passed through her mind. Too many for her to bother with. What was this talk of these 'exceptional' minds again? It was too much for a mind with only 3 hours of sleep to think about, so she left it at that, and slept.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Scout rolled over in bed after the sunlight hit her eyes through the grating outside her window. Expecting to feel Garret beside her, she was brought with dismay to feel a cold pillow to her left.

Dragging herself from under the duvet, she went about the rest of her day in the oh so routine fashion she hated.

Throughout the session with her psychologist, Scout nonchalantly listened to the shrink, her monotonous voice sweeping through the room like a breeze the girl paid no mind to.

Her body on auto pilot, Scout began home the same way she had the day before. A melange of sounds met her ears as she neared the alleyway she took to go home. She slipped on her headphones in an attempt to escape the noise around her, but found that the music didn't quiet the confusion in her mind. Was it her fault Garret left? Why didn't he leave a note, or call?

Her troubled train of thought led her home before she knew it, and she unlocked her door before stepping inside, throwing her purse, keys, and jacket to the side. Running a hand over her tired face, the young woman walked into her apartment.

"Scout!" Is the first sound she is met with when she walks into the living room.

"Garret...? Where were you this morning?" She asked, arms crossed over her chest.

"That's what I have to tell you. Scout, there are men. These...men in black suits. I don't know who they are or who they work for, but I ran from the car they had me in and headed as quick as I could back here to tell--"

"Garret. Calm down, babe. Talk in a speed I can understand."

He took a deep breath, but continued at the pace he was speaking before. "I went out to get some fresh milk; I noticed you didn't have any. On my way back from the supermarket, those men came from out of no where and cornered me into an alley. No weapons or anything. Just...sunglasses. And earpieces."

Scout's mouth went dry. "They all look similar?"

"Yeah! It was so weird! They cornered me, and they took me into their car. I tried to fight 'em off, but damn, they're strong for not being very built. Anyway, after that--"

Scout heard him stop talking, after something in her peripheral vision pulled her gaze from Garret's face to the window. Once her eyes came back to him, the sight she saw caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.

"Hello, Ms. McKennan."

"...You. You've been following me. You took him, didn't you? What did you do with Garret?!"

"He is...'in a better place'." The agent smiled out of the corner of his lips.

She didn't know how it was possible, but she felt as though his eyes were boring through her through his shades. Emotionless eyes, despite the fear his expression evoked in her.

From the moment she pivoted on her heel to run toward the door, everything seemed to go in slow motion. Each footfall, each laboured breath, each pulse of adrenaline through her veins and to her heart.

Hand caught around her middle; four hands. She wasn't sure how another agent had managed to get inside, but the next thing she knew, the air was being squeezed from her lung, and everything went black.

- - - - -

"Thank you for coming," said Councilor Hamann as he leaned against the long table where the rest of the councilors sat. Eyes scanning over the few crews that had come, he nodded to himself and sat. "You all know why you are here today. A new anomoly inside the Matrix--"

"A glitch, y'mean?" Ray piped up, hands on his knees as he sat, slightly hunched over. A few of the attended audience shifted slightly. Cy glanced up at her Operator and absently shook her head.

"A glitch, yes. We're not sure what, or if, something is effecting the machines, but we do know that it's affecting the clairvoyancy of those still plugged in. That is the second thing I called this meeting for. As I and the rest of the council know, there is a new entity coming through to Zion. We know most ships are not equiped with the adequate medical supplies to tend to an arriver, and most of your ships are staffed well already. We require a volunteer crew, to take this person under their care, until such time that they are able to come back to Zion."

Ray scratched at the grey-peppered beard on his chin, glancing at Cy before looking over to the more than hesitant Sparky. Jasper flicked her Captain's forearm. "C'mon. We have more than enough medical supplies to care for a person. And ever since we lost Zed and Sys..." She trailed off as Cy looked over at her. She sighed quietly. "I don't know how you talk me into these things," she said, before standing up. "The captain and crew of the Zenobius will answer the council's call."


	5. Chapter 5

A bone-chilling draft woke Scout up from a dreamless state. Her body was wracked with uncontrollable shivers, her shallow breath visible in the little light there was in the small room.

"Hello...?" She manages weakly. It was quite possibly the most ineffective thing she could have said. Her voice sounded meek and helpless, and it made her sick.

A switch flicked on, flooding the room with near blinding flourescent light. "Nice of you to join us, Ms. McKennan." Smith sat in front of her, hands clasped on top of a metallic table. Another suit stood at the door with a mechanical posture, and an unmoving gaze. "Our records show you haven't had an eye exam in some time. Perhaps we should rectify that." He stood and walked towards her. This was the moment when Scout realized she was straped to a chair that resembled one you might find in a dentist's office.

"Lower her," Smith commanded, the man at the door jerking a lever on the side of the chair so that Scout's body was horizontal. "I'm afraid this is going to hurt." Taking a bug probe from the metallic case in his breast pocket, he held it just above her left eye as it wriggled to life.

Scout, aware of this the entire time, struggled against the bonds that held her, and screamed, before the second agent wrapped a gag around her mouth.

The next thing she knew, she was unable to close her eyes, and she felt paralysis wrack her entire body. She felt the small machine worm its way past her eye and back through her retina. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt.

At that precise moment, the girl shot up in bed with a deep gasp. She panted for a couple moments before grabbing a handful of the sheets beside her angrily. What the hell was wrong with her subconscious? Was all of that a dream? Was Garret actually dead? How could she feel pain that excrutiating in a dream state?

She sat up in bed, brought her laptop over to her, and opened it up. She ran her hands over her face lightly, before beginning to search some of her 'dream symptoms'. Maybe there was some hokey doctor out there that could help her. At this point, she was willing to try anything.

She found a chat room for insomniacs when researching, and figured it was better than doing nothing. Clicking the link, she chose the handle 'Lost-Cause', and entered. There were no occupants in the room. "Figures," she said aloud, just about to close the browser window when she noticed someone sign in, by the name of 'The-Guide'.

Scout raised a brow, her fingertips hovering over the keyboard.

Lost-Cause: How can you know the way nowadays?

The-Guide: Because I know the truth.

Lost-Cause: What truth would that be?

The-Guide: Remember how vivid that dream you just had was?

The girl jerked back from the laptop for a moment, swallowing. She looked around her room, as if wondering if anyone was watching her. How would they know what her dream was about, though?

The-Guide: Your nightmares can stop if you want them to, Scout. If you want to know the truth, meet me in at the pier in one hour.

Lost-Cause: Who are you?

The-Guide: Your ticket to the promised land.

==The-Guide has signed off.==

Scout furrowed her brow, her immediate reaction being to freak out, and assume that this was some sort of stalker or religious nut, wanting to corner her in a dark place in the middle of Toronto to do God knows what to her. But something prodded her to get up, get dressed, and drive down to the pier. It was curiousity. Maybe this was totally wrong, but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't at least check it out.

Pulling up to the pier, she saw two figures standing on the docking area, both in duster jackets, black leather on the man, white leather on the woman. Scout slowly exited her car, looking cautiously around before heading towards the dock, shoving her hands in her pockets. "This is stupid, this is so stupid," Scout said under her breath as she neared the two people masked in shadow.


End file.
